Jose Mariano Salas

Jose Mariano Salas (11 May 1797-24 December 1867) was President of Mexico from 5 August to 23 December 1846 (succeeding Nicolas Bravo and preceding Valentin Gomez Farias) and from 21 January to 2 February 1859 (succeeding Manuel Robles Pezuela and preceding Miguel Miramon). He was a member of the Conservative Party of Mexico.

Biography
Jose Mariano Salas was born in Mexico City, New Spain in 1797, and he entered the Spanish Army in 1813, serving under Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna as a royalist officer during the Mexican War of Independence. In 1821, he accepted Agustin de Iturbide's rise to power, and he defended Guadalupe Victoria's government in 1827 and fought off the Spanish invasion at Tampico in 1829. During the Texas Revolution, he commanded one of the Mexican columns at the Battle of the Alamo, covering the retreat of the Mexican forces to Matamoros. In 1840, he suppressed a military revolt at the National Palace, and he was exiled in 1844 for his support of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. In 1846, he launched a rebellion against President Nicolas Bravo and proclaimed the re-establishment of the federalist regime, re-establishing the Constitution of 1824. He worked hard to enlarge the militia and raise money for the upcoming Mexican-American War, and he handed over power to Santa Anna in 1846. Salas served as second-in-command of the Ejercito del Norte during the war with the United States, and he was captured at the Battle of Contreras. After the peace treaty, he became governor of Queretaro, and, in 1859, he briefly became President during the Reform War. During the Franco-Mexican War, he served as one of the regents of the Second Mexican Empire, serving from 1863 to 1864. He died in 1867.